


First Date

by ExclamatorySlytherin



Category: Girl Meets World
Genre: F/F, First Dates, Fluff
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-02-20
Updated: 2017-02-20
Packaged: 2018-09-25 17:28:09
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,726
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9834470
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ExclamatorySlytherin/pseuds/ExclamatorySlytherin
Summary: She was watching the way the setting sun illuminated her best friend, lighting her up like a movie scene, tugging at her heart in a way she wasn’t used to, a way she didn’t want to be able to identify. ‘You turn gold’ she thought.A fluffy one-shot for February's FandomWritingChallenge on tumblr.





	

Riley was late. It wasn’t entirely unlike her to be late, and Maya knew this. She knew Riley like the back of her hand, better, probably, so this really really should not be bothering her. She could list five times Riley had been late to something this week alone. This didn’t mean anything, and it certainly didn’t mean she wasn’t going to show up.  

Maya checked her phone again. No new messages. It was 1:07.

Just seven minutes. Riley was just seven minutes late. Which meant Maya had only been waiting for about fifteen minutes. She could do this. She could wait a few more minutes without freaking out. Riley would be here soon.

Maya slipped her phone into her back pocket and chewed her bottom lip a bit anxiously. She looked around at her set up for what must have been the tenth time, trying again to imagine it from Riley’s eyes.

She’d gone to Shawn for this, because of course she had, because who else was she going to ask for help with girls? He’d said that the most helpful advice he had for her was, “Be yourself. Find a way to remind Riley that who she is is important to you”. Then he’d handed her the biggest picnic basket she’d ever seen, claiming it might help, and really? Short of unicorn rides through the city, a picnic was probably the most Riley idea for a date that anyone could have come up with.

There it was now, resting on top of a checkered red and white tablecloth she’d managed to find with all the ridiculous seasonal items the stores put out this time of year. She’d gotten take out from that Italian place they’d gone to so often recently, that chicken pesto stuff that Maya had thought was just okay but Riley couldn’t stop talking about. She’d bought some macarons and carefully packed two little bits of opera cake. She’d brought water and glass bottle cokes and hand squeezed lemonade, made just the way Riles had taught her two summers ago, around the time this whole trouble started.

Maya couldn’t remember exactly when she’d fallen in love with Riley Matthews. It had snuck up on her, the way most emotions had a tendency to back then. She must have felt it creeping up for a long time, must have focused as hard as she could on just about anything else for as long as she could keep it up before finally it was there in front of her and she just couldn’t lie to herself about it anymore. That day two years ago had definitely been one of the first moments she’d noticed. She could remember it clearly, the two of them standing in the kitchen of Shawn’s cottage, the ingredients all lined up on the counter, Riley’s insistence that they do this from scratch since Maya never had.

“How have we not done this together?” Riley had been so shocked. “Mom and I used to do it all the time, but now she’s got Auggie and Ava so I don’t help as much.”

Maya hadn’t really known what to say to that, so she just picked up a lemon instead, started tossing it around in her hands, leaning back on a counter and tossing her hair out of her face. She used to think she looked so cool when she did that. She still did, if she was being honest. If there was anything Maya was good at, it was looking cool. Except in front of Riley, who had grabbed the lemon and Maya’s hand and tugged.

“Mayaaaa. This is important.”

Maya sighed, surrendered the lemon and stood up straight, dusting her palms off on her jeans.

“Okay, Pumpkin. Whatever you want.”

Riley had set to work, eagerly explaining the ingredients, the measurements of each, how best to juice the lemons, the importance of water temperature. Maya had nodded along, helping where she could (wasn’t lemonade more of a one person job?) admiring the way Riley’s hands moved, quick and sure and delicate, and the way Riles smiled at her when she was doing well.

That smile. It had always filled that cold heart Maya was so proud of, even when nothing else could, even when she was sure the walls were up everywhere, that this kind of warmth was simply not possible for her. That day it was especially stunning. The air in the kitchen was warm and light, and when Riley looked at her in that way she had, smiled that “You’re my sunshine” smile, Maya could have sworn her heart actually skipped a beat.

The afternoon passed. They sat on the porch and drank the lemonade they had made together with a dinner of dinosaur shaped chicken nuggets and pasta that looked like bow ties.

“See? I  _ toooooold  _ you it was so easy. And so worth waiting the time it takes for it to get cold.”

Maya almost hadn’t responded. She was watching the way the setting sun illuminated her best friend, lighting her up like a movie scene, tugging at her heart in a way she wasn’t used to, a way she didn’t want to be able to identify.  _ ‘You turn gold’ _ she thought.

“Definitely worth it.” She’d said out loud.

A soft chime from her back pocket shook Maya out of her reverie. She almost dropped her phone trying to check it, her hands shaking for some reason she didn’t want to give a voice to.

It was ten minutes after one and, finally, a text from Riley.

**SO SORRY I’M LATE. SMALL FASHION DISASTER.**

Another chime. And then another.

**But I am TOTALLY walking up now!**

**I see the guy with the bubbles, but no Maya? Where is the Maya?**

This was it.

Go time.

Still shaking, knees more than a little weak, Maya stood up, looked down the path Riley was clearly walking down, did a little wave and…

Forgot how to breathe.

Riley’s looked beautiful. She was wearing a dress, some knee length thing with a puffy skirt and lots of tulle in dark shades of pink and purple, and a black vest Maya recognized from a trip to Demolition a few weeks ago. She looked confused for a moment longer before noticing Maya’s nervous little wave. Her whole face lit up, and she began to walk as fast as she possibly could without actually having to call it running.

_ She could have worn a potato sack and you’d still be choking on your tongue, _ some voice inside of Maya pointed out. She shushed it aggressively, recovering just in time to squeak out a “Riles! You made it!”

“Peaches!” Riley wrapped her arms around the other girl’s neck, hugging her tightly before pulling away a bit awkwardly. There had been a lot of quiet awkward moments since they had agreed to try this whole ‘dating’ thing a week or so ago. Maya cringed a bit but pulled herself together quickly. Riley coughed.

“I really am sorry I’m late, there was a bit of a fashion… Is that a picnic basket?” Her eyes were wide as she took in her surroundings for the first time. The giant basket. The two places set neatly beside it. The small vase with a small purple bunch of wildflowers in between them.

“You planned a picnic?” She looked at Maya, eyes still wide, head tilted a little to the right as she had a habit of doing when confused or surprised.

“Yea, I mean. Yes. I did. I thought maybe it was the kind of thing you’d like to do? And I made sure to get food I knew we liked, and there are some drink options, but honestly, if you hate it I can pack it all up right now, no trouble at all, we can just go see a movie, that’s probably a more normal date anyway and…” Maya had been reaching to pick up the plates, having instantly decided this was probably far more of her heart than she wanted to show anyone, even Riles when Riley grabbed both her hands in hers.

“Maya… this is perfect.”

“Really?”

“It is…  _ amazing _ . Sit down. Tell me what we’re having.” She kneeled on the blanket, shockingly graceful in the way she could be when she really wanted and pulled Maya down with her.

Lunch passed surprisingly easily. Everything seemed more simple once Maya got done being nervous. Normal, even. The awkwardness that had plagued their relationship since the first discussion of romantic feelings seemed to have evaporated. They ate, they watched clouds, they talked about absolutely nothing and absolutely everything, and more than once their hands grazed each others and lingered just a bit longer than they strictly had to.

The day started to turn a bit cooler, the sun was beginning to think about sinking lower in the sky, and lunch was finally, quietly, though neither of them had really decided it, over.

“So.”

“So?” Maya didn’t meet Riley’s eyes. This was it. The trial run of a first date was over, and now they would have to make a decision. Maya knew what she wanted. But what if Riley didn’t? What if this was too weird for her? What if she decided she’d made a mistake, that everything had to go back to normal? Would she be able to do that? Would Maya?

“Soooooo.” Riley grabbed Maya’s shoulder, kneeling in front of her, tugging until Maya looked up. Their noses were awfully close. “So what now? Is this… are we dating? Do you kiss me? Do we hold hands and skip back to my apartment?”

“I don’t skip,” Maya muttered reflexively. Then, louder, just starting to process what Riley had been saying, still refusing to hope too loudly. “Whatever you want, Pumpkin.”

Riley grinned so large it seemed to take up her whole face. “What if what I want is to kiss you right now and then again when you walk me home?”

Maya looked at her for a moment and then nodded softly, some part of her (the part that had only been pretending not to hope) finally, finally relaxing for the first time in weeks. She smiled, her grin matching Riley’s the way it always did when they were both truly happy, and she nodded again. “Like I said, Riles. Whatever you want.”


End file.
